Bravery
by Bralt
Summary: Everybody knows that Halt is brave, but what is bravery? Does it mean that you are fearless or does it mean you have fears? And what makes somebody 'brave?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice or any of its characters**

**This is basically just a little thing I wrote while thinking over random story ideas, I think Halt's a bit off in his responses but we'll see what you think**

"Halt?" Will asked from his seat beside his mentor on the verandah. It had been around a week from when the returned from the Kalkara hunt and Halt was back in his usual schedule of training with Will. After supper, the duo would sit out on the verandah and most times discuss whatever Will pestered Halt about. The sun was sinking now as they shared cups of coffee on the verandah. Halt grunted in response to Will's prelude to a question, granting permission for him to continue. "How are you so brave?"

Halt resisted the urge to look at his apprentice with a raised eyebrow and instead considered the question. He hadn't expected it at all and he'd never considered the question really. He knew he was a sort of legend in Araluen and he knew most of the tales told about him were exaggerated as well. There was bravery in him though, all Rangers had the trait, it was what made them great. Though he admired the bravery shown in those around him, Will perhaps more than others, Halt had never considered himself braver than anybody else.

"I'm a Ranger, we have to be brave," Halt replied, taking a sip of his coffee as he did so. The setting sun cast long shadows onto the ground surrounding the cabin and lit the sky like a fire. It was perhaps one of his favorite views.

"But you're never afraid," Will persisted. He had seen the way Halt had faced the Kalkara and it amazed him how his mentor hadn't seemed the least bit afraid. Not to mention when they were hunting them on the Plains, Halt must have known that he was a target but he still went on to find them. It was like walking into his own grave.

"How do you know that?" Halt asked, he didn't know how exactly to respond to these questions. He wasn't generally approached and questioned all that often about how he was brave.

"Because you don't look it," Will replied, frowning in thought. Halt was basically admitting that he was afraid of things and that didn't seem like something a hero would do in Will's mind. Heroes weren't supposed to admit that they were afraid, perhaps it was a stupid idea but it seemed impossible Halt was afraid of anything. He had watched the man shoot down a gigantic and furious pig without hesitation; hunt after assassins that were sure to kill him and throughout many other feats that would have scared him half to death, Halt didn't show any signs of fear.

"Will, tell me what you think the meaning of bravery is," Halt said, still gazing out at the tall trees with their large trunks and high branches.

Will hesitated a moment before responding, "Well, it means you aren't afraid to do anything. That you are fearless." Halt shook his head and looked at his apprentice.

"That's something that is a definition used by many but it isn't the right one. Bravery is when you are the only one that knows you are afraid yet still doing whatever it is you are afraid to do. Like when you shot that arrow and hit the Kalkara, I doubt you were calm and unafraid to do it." Will nodded, he had been filled with fear and doubt when he had shot the arrow but it had been the only way to save Halt, Rodney and Arald.

"But how do you do it? How do you make yourself do it?" Will pressed; he had acted without much thought and out of the want to save Halt and the others. He was sure Halt had had time to think over what he was doing though and that would only have highlighted any fear, how Halt did it, Will didn't know. Halt looked away again, considering his response.

"You think of the best possible outcome and think about the consequences if you don't do it," Halt responded after a moment. Will looked away for a second, digesting what Halt had said.

"What if you can't see the best outcome?" Will asked and Halt fought back the urge to roll his eyes at the boy's seemingly endless questions.

"Bravery isn't something one can simply acquire Will. You can't just wake up one day and decide you're going to be brave and then do something foolish to prove it. It's through your actions in certain circumstances that you prove you are brave. Your decision to face that boar was a brave one, you were thinking of Horace when you did it. You could have just sat by and watched the boar stampede what at that time was your enemy, but you didn't. You shoved him aside even though you were scared to do so. And even when you thought there was no hope of you surviving the encounter, you still tried to fend the boar back," Halt explained.

"So when you led the cavalry across the secret ford to attack Morgarath's forces, you were scared?" Will queried.

"Yes, but I knew it was the only way to help our chance of winning. Rangers are always going to be put in positions where we are terrified of what might happen to us but we can't show that. If I had shown fear or hesitation when leading the cavalry, the men following me would have been affected by it and wouldn't have fought as hard. They would have let their own fears take over and ruin our chance. When I faced the Kalkara, I was horrified but if I wanted to live, I couldn't give into that. Bravery doesn't have to be shown in front of people Will, often times the bravest acts are when we are by ourselves," Halt said. He rarely ever admitted when he was scared but it was something he felt Will should know. The boy was going to be a Ranger and he needed to know what true bravery was, not what the farm folk may have thought it was.

"What if we aren't brave when we need to be? What if we can't bring ourselves to do it?" Will further asked. Halt shook his head and drained his coffee mug before standing.

"You won't have to worry about that," he answered before entering the cabin, leaving Will to think over what had been said.

**Yay, something where I haven't made Halt in a bad state:D Please review (preferably in a critical manner but non-critical things are good as well)**


End file.
